By Eric Peters
Do you want a big truck with just two doors, an eight foot bed and a big V8 rather than a small six with a turbo?
It’ hard to get all those things together in a half-ton truck and some half-ton trucks no longer offer those things anymore (the current Ram 1500, for instance, comes only with four doors, a six or five-foot bed and a turbo six).
If you want the things that used to be commonly available in half-ton trucks, you can still find them standard in three-quarter-ton trucks like the Ford F-250.
The why-you-still-can is due to a combination of factors, including the fact that 2500-and-up trucks are subject to less onerous federal regulations (as regards fuel economy and “emissions”) and because 1500 pickups have become popular among people who don’t especially need a work truck anymore and are fine with a truck that’s better suited to carrying people than a stack of 4×8 sheets of plywood.
The really good news is that the F-250 doesn’t cost that much more than an F-150, but it’s a lot more truck for not much more money.
What It Is
The F-250 is Ford’s 2500 series pickup. Like others in the class such as the Ram 2500 and Chevy Silverado 2500, it is a more rugged and powerful truck than lighter-duty 1500 series pickups.
The base XL trim ($45,300) comes standard with a regular cab (two doors) and an eight foot bed, as well as a 6.8 liter V8. As a point of comparison, the base XL trim F-150 comes standard with a 2.7 liter turbocharged six cylinder engine and stickers for $37,450.
The Chevy Silverado 1500 comes standard with a turbocharged four.
If you want an even bigger engine than 6.8 liters, Ford offers a 7.3 liter V8 as a stand alone option for $1,000 extra. In addition, there’s a turbodiesel 6.7 liter V8 that is available in two output levels.
If you’d like four doors and an eight-foot bed to go with it, the F-250 is available configured that way as well.
A top-of-the-line Platinum trim with Crew Cab and an eight foot bed stickers for $78,065. If you do not need an eight foot bed and want to save a few bucks, Ford offers the Platinum Crew Cab with a 6.75 foot bed for $77,865.
All trims except the base XL come standard with 4WD.
What’s New For 2025
The main new thing is Ford’s Pro Vehicle Integration System 2.0 – designed to ease installation of aftermarket accessories.
What’s Good
Everything (and more) that a half ton truck used to be for not much more than a current half-ton truck costs.
Multiple V8s to choose from – gas and diesel.
Even the base XL comes standard with what would have been considered luxury features in a half ton truck made in the early 2000s and before – including power everything, power-locking tailgate, heated outside mirrors, AC and trailer sway control.
What’s Not So Good
It’s a climb up to get in – and to get cargo in and out of the bed, due to it being high off the ground and having high bedwalls. (Ford does provide scallops to use as foot-holds).
Does not offer the extra-roomy MegaCab configuration available with the Ram 2500.
Diesel V8 adds more than $10k to the price.
Under The Hood
The F-250 comes standard with what’s only available optionally in current half-ton trucks – and no longer available at all in several of them, including the current Ram 1500 and Toyota Tundra.
That being a V8 engine.
A big one, too. It’s a 6.8 liter V8 that touts 405 horsepower and 445 ft.-lbs. of torque, sufficient to allow for a tow rating of 18,200 lbs. – which is thousands of pounds higher than maximum tow-rating of any half-ton truck. (Part of the reason for this is also that trucks in the 2500 class have heavier frames than the 1500s and so can handle the torsional stresses of pulling that kind of weight.)
A ten speed (heavy duty) automatic is paired with this V8 – as well as the optional (and even bigger) 7.3 liter V8 that touts 430 horsepower and 450 ft.-lbs. of torque. Equipped with this huge V8 – it displaces more than 440 cubic inches in Before (metric) Times measuring methods – the standard tow rating goes up nearly 4,000 lbs. to a maximum of 22,000 lbs.
Also, the 0-60 time goes down from about 8 seconds to 7.5 seconds.
An interesting about this V8 is that it is also a Before Times pushrod, overhead valve V8 – meaning it doesn’t have multiple camshafts operating a plethora of intake and exhaust valves. Fewer parts and a physically smaller V8 – in terms of its exterior size – are among the benefits of this layout vs. overhead cam engines with four valves per cylinder (rather than just two).
It would be a fine thing if Ford could offer either of these V8s in the F-150 but it can’t because of compliance pressure; they use “too much gas” – not in the eyes of buyers but in the eyes of government bureaucrats, who somehow get to decide for us how much gas we’re allowed to use as well as the types of vehicles and engines we’re allowed to buy.
There’s a third engine option; technically, two. Ford offers a 6.7 liter Powerstroke turbodiesel V8 in two outputs. The first touts 475 horses and 1,050 ft.-lbs. of torque; the higher-output iteration touts 500 horsepower and 1,200 ft.-lbs. of torque. The max tow rating – with a gooseneck – tops out at 23,000 lbs.
With the HO 6.7 V8, this huge and heavy (nearly three ton) truck can get to 60 in 6.3 seconds.
Either way, going diesel isn’t inexpensive. The standard output iteration adds $10,495 to the price; the higher-output version adds $12,995 to the price of a new F-250.
The main sell here isn’t so much the increased tow rating but the increased distance you can drive an F-250 so equipped. The diesel doesn’t have to work as hard – and so does not burn as much fuel-per mile – as either of the gas V8s.
The government does not publish mileage stats for trucks in this class, but with 34 gallons of diesel in the tank the dashboard indicator says about 600 miles of driving range. That’s right there with a Prius hybrid – but the Prius can’t tow 23,000 lbs.
Dual 68 amp batteries can be specified for $210.
On The Road
Once you’re pointed straight ahead, the F-250 is both easy to drive and pleasant to drive. The background burble of the big V8 – gas or diesel – conveys strength to match the beefy feel of everything else. If you choose the diesel, you’ll get an exhaust brake like the Big Rigs have; it uses exhaust back pressure provide a deceleration effect without using the brakes as much or as heavily. Just lift off the accelerator instead.
The house-pulling torque of the diesel is worth the cost, if you can afford it. Twelve hundred ft.-lbs. of torque is enough to almost get air under the front wheels if you launch the thing hard from a dead stop. It’s also enough to make pulling a 10,000 lb. trailer feel like you’re not pulling anything, which is one of the objective reasons for buying a 2500 over a 1500. The F-150 is rated to pull up to 13,500 lbs. So you could pull 10,000 lbs. and be well within the safe zone. But you will definitely feel the load of 10,000 lbs. hanging off the F-150’s rear bumper. On the other hand, a 10,000 lb. RV hanging off the rear end of an F-250 is kind of like Arnold (in his prime) benching 225 pounds.
Arnold’s one-rep max was reportedly around 500. Thus, 225 was a warm-up.
Being able to pull more also means the drivetrain isn’t being worked as hard when not pulling as much as it could. It’s nice to have the capability to hitch up to 23,000 lbs. to the rear end. But it’s comforting to know that pulling 10,0000 or even 15,000 lbs. – which is a big (and heavy) RV – is probably not going to lead to the early demise of a very expensive transmission or engine that was worked too hard, too often.
Three can comfortably sit up front, which is something three could do in the big land yacht sedans that are no longer made – which helps account for the popularity of the big trucks (and SUVs) that have taken their place. Another commonality with those dreadnoughts of yore is a very wide turning circle (51.1 feet for the Super Crew with the 6.75 foot bed) and this can make it a handful to maneuver in some parking lots and also when trying to get straightened out again exiting from a side street. But once you are straightened out, the feel of the F-250 can be likened to how it feels when you’re sitting in the plush first-class seat of a 747 cruising at 400 MPH. The speed is almost unnoticeable – as is the fact that you’re sitting inside something so big.
And that’s a fine feeling.
At The Curb
The F-250 comes almost any way you might want it to – or need it too – which sets it apart from the current crop of half-tons that increasingly come in fewer ways than many truck buyers want and need and that probably explains why truck buyers are gravitating toward the three-quarter-ton segment now. The half-ton segment is popular with buyers who want a big car – but since those aren’t sold anymore, they go for half-ton trucks (and big SUVs based on those trucks) instead. The big cab/small bed layout works for them because they typically haul the family dog in the bed rather than a stack of 4×8 plywood.
The regular cab/eight foot bed configuration is the most obvious way. Another way is that the eight foot bed is available with the Super Cab and the Crew Cab. You aren’t forced to pick one over the other – as is often the case in the half-ton segment.
The “base” XL trim is described as a “work truck” – which is true and false. It can do a lot of work, without breaking a sweat. But “work truck” used to mean metal floors, roll up windows and a heater. It now means standard AC, power pretty much everything (including the tailgate) plus electrical trailer sway control, 5G hotspot, heated outside mirrors, remote start and an 8 inch touchscreen. If that constitutes a “work truck” then the nature of “work” has become a lot cushier than it used to be.
You can upgrade from there to the higher trims if you want such luxuries as heated seats (both rows) rain-sensing wipers, power adjustable pedals and a larger (12 inch) LCD touchscreen and a B&O eight speaker premium audio system. The range-topping King Ranch and Platinum trims up that ante with massaging front seats, power deploying running boards, a 14 speaker B&O audio system and a powered tailgate. The Platinum – which gets unique-to-that-trim premium smoked truffle leather seats with French stitching, a dual-pane sunroof and satin-chrome trim – requires buying the HO version of the 6.7 liter diesel. This version of the F-250 also gets the new pre-wired auxiliary switches for accessories built into a headliner-mounted control console.
As mentioned earlier, the front seats can be configured to seat two or three across via the flip-up/down center section that serves as either the middle seat or a center console/work space with an adjustable “desk” for laptops and so on.
There’s also a Tremor package that can be ordered with most F-250 trims. It bundles a locking rear diff, limited slip front diff, skid plates for the transfer case and fuel tanks, 35 inch tires, revised front and rear ends for increased angles of approach/departure plus a factory lift that increases ground clearance from the standard 9.7 inches to 10.8 inches. The ten speed automatic also gets a driver-selectable Rock Crawl mode.
It’s been said elsewhere that the F-250’s main rivals – the Chevy Silverado 2500 and the Ram 2500 are a little “nicer” – meaning they are a bit less big-trucky. That’s a plus – or a minus – depending on what kind of truck you’re looking for.
The Rest
Perhaps the most intriguing thing about the F-250 is how little it costs relative to the F-150. The latter’s base price – $37,450 – is only $7,850 lower than the base F-250’s price and you could probably haggle that down closer to parity. You’ll certainly get a lot more capability (and engine) for your money when you buy the F-250.
The thing that may be most daunting – to some – is the height of the F-250 vs. the F-150. The latter stands 75.4 inches tall; the former stands 79.3 inches, so it’s more of a climb to get in the F-250. The latter’s bed is also higher up and so there’s a climb up to get at what’s in the bed, too.
The Bottom Line
If you’re wanting – and more to the point, needing – a truck that doesn’t shy away from being just that, this one will likely fill the bill.
Editorial Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the National Motorists Association. We believe in fostering open dialogue and welcome diverse perspectives on issues affecting motorists. If you would like to submit a response or opposing viewpoint, we encourage you to contribute. Please email us at greg@motorists.org for submission guidelines.
